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Thoughts
What is this? I write all of my thoughts and ideas here, this is not their permanent location, these ideas can and will be moved elsewhere on the wikia when I've either fully fleshed out the idea or gotten rid of the idea. Some items here will go on to be expanded upon, others will be scrapped. The scrap count is rather high, I've decided to stop republishing scrapped content. Thoughts * Saul and other precursors actually purged the Sau, but they didn't destroy all of them. This is how Saul gained the bulk of his lums. * “Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.” * different levels of undiscovered items, like if you see a fish it'll be "fish" then when you pick it up "red fish" with some simple flavor-text then when you find out more information later it'll be it's specific name and flavor-text. * the only reason you can fight against saul is because there's part of saul in you. * there is something worse than death, and that is the death of your soul, * quest where you need to select which area of a forest you think is the darkest in order to search it first. * lums are a Sau invention. * steamed buns, describes to player how he added ingredients to improve the flavor since the players last visit. * after helping a farmer tackle criminals he becomes a leading guard in the region, and develops it substantially. * implant an idea incredibly early, which the player ponders and thinks what could be the meaning behind it, then don't use it until the player has almost erased it entirely from their mind. * choice to pull the sword or simply walk away, walking away is the correct option. * Naya, a land with mountains. * the sword you are given as an awesome and powerful reward is a piece of junk, you can throw it away, but it'd be a real pity to do so, as it can become the most powerful weapon in the game. * destroyed areas at the start of the game you can walk through, later you can restore and repair thanks to quests. * quests should be long enough so that the same second the player begins to get frustrated they also succeed, giving maximum emotional payoff. * an event in a specific location can actually effect events all over the world. * panning over to saul from great distance, showing his work excavating and repairing a precursor ruin showing how precedent the situation is. * think of your life. how many people? how many memories. Saul had memories, now he has none. You effect the world around you. * time has erased whatever was once written here. * You are in an area of the game that will later become hostile, with units that are friendly, but will become hostile later. The upper levels are sealed off, although you can try to climb, the guards will ask you to politely leave * they found a gatestone, and they used that as a key to forge locks. the gatestone was impossible to recreate. * The player will make promises, often without even thinking about their impact, and then later in the story may be forced to break those promises. * quests usually offer permanent change, sometimes it isn't obvious what that change is, but some are more obvious, like funding the rebuilding of a bridge, not all of them are as positive as they seem at first. * The timeline is incredibly important to the present. * I am the original Door. All the others are merely pale imitations. You hold the key, how did you find it? * the cracked stone wall * Saul has hundreds of lums, each time he is defeated he loses only a portion of them, returning hundreds of years later to a world that has grown due to his loss, weaker than before, but still incredibly strong, when he succeeds, he claims these lums back, and then some. * things that exist in the world from the past to prevent evils, but not the current one, a future one. * the player should be able to piece together what the world once looked like, from evidence given by npcs. this can help with some cool things. * the sealed lands, a land which has been purposefully sealed off to everyone. * there was a great sea, when it faded, it left salt, we should leave this on the flavor text. * a modern building that has been built on top, to surround a much older immovable structure. * the sword when plunged into him, turned him into stone, and the sword and stone sat for hundreds of years, soil covered the stone, until, nobody even knew that the sword had been plunged into the dark being below the soil, and, by cruel fate, by withdrawing the sword, the darkness would once again be free. * the ancient temple is important, but there is an even older temple, far older than even that ancient and powerful one, which has been completely forgotten, which information would've been paramount decades prior. * an important item in a hard to get area. looks like it would've been useful if you had gotten to it hundreds of years ago, it's degraded beyond use now. * immutable steel containing a high amount of Phosphorus so that the rust will stay superficial, even on the unhoned blade. * The steel isn't important, that sword may be legendary, but it is blunt. what matters is the edge, and the stone you use to grind it. * There are only 6 of a particular ingredient in the game, all 6 are required for a recipe,alongside other minor ingredients. * Items held by enemies that can become useless depending on what actions are taken during questing. * items at the start of the game of great worth but can't be picked up and are out of reach. * when the blacksmith comes out of retirement, you can forge things at his blacksmith that he or other smiths can teach you, you can also bring him rare weapons or equipment so he can study and eventually attempt a reforging. * if you bring the blacksmiths own weapons back to him; he'll tell you about the adventurers he sold them too, and what they hoped to achieve, although they clearly failed in their tasks, you could attempt to solve their loose ends. * I won't be needing this anymore. * questgivers can and will notice if you have equipment that is better than the would-be quest reward, and they can offer you an even better reward in some instances, sometimes this is the only way of obtaining incredibly rare items, as many can't be stolen. * throughout the course of the game, you are essentially playing as the grandson of the hero, the hero was killed by the end boss, and the world as a result the world is on the precipice of the end. * You cannot defeat me with a blade like this. What you hold is useless. Go back to the world below, and tell that to the pathetic fools who made this blade! Its power is gone. * hidden items under a house. * visible heat differential, open a door within a hot area to the outside, which is cold. * distraction of the warrior * put a chest in the game that has no key. * by searching through useless books in the game find hints about where to find items that are almost impossible to find otherwise. * waiting for hundreds of years, growing older hidden away at the end of the world, until the threat eventually finds him, and he even then refuses to face it and then he dies. * A switch that when pressed has changes for the entirety of the world. opening new areas. * an event happens once every few months where channels of water are pure and at perfect temperatures, during this time sea creatures travel through these waters, as it is one of the only times they can breathe as the water is usually boiling. * the water caste keep documentation of all the waters on Mar. * If Day and night are to collide. We'll make gray from black and white * you will find fragmented songs, these songs can be joined together to form full songs, some songs can also be played in reverse * you mourn the end boss, after you realise he was right all along. * during a battle an unknown enemy destroys both sides, you and the Pyrrhic victory enemy are contemplating the loss of the battle. * seemingly meaningless dialogue at the start of the game can make changes to how the game proceeds, choices at the beginning of the game impact starting time of day to be dawn dusk or night. * Something terrible happens, but the player doesn't have enough context to realise how bad this is until much later into the story. * old enemies unite together to fight an enemy even greater than them all at the very end. * lums can turn into a liquid. * wooden and stone flutes with five notes are used. There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combination of these five give rise to more melodies that can ever be heard. There are not more than five primary colours, yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen. There are not more than five cardinal tastes, yet combinations of them yield more flavours than can ever be tasted. * There are roads which must not be followed, creatures which must not be attacked, towns which must not be entered, items which must not be used. * the player will establish things as fact earlier, dialogue and text later on will question the depth and truth of things, and make the player question if there is more depth to these things that they don't currently know about. * some narrative lore-exploration in the form of files, or text documents concerning animals, plant life or other things with hidden uses and great advantages in gameplay, only available if the player actively searches for and cares about learning more about things. * first scene in the game is the point far after the end of the game, signifying that your days are numbered, last scene is the same scene, set before the first scene, still at the end of the game, the good ending has an additional positive scene, but still uses the same scene. * secrets unlock that help or assist gameplay through collectable items. helps turn gameplay reward systems into a plot of an AI assisting the player. * enemies can permanently injure you, one boss does this rather seriously, although you can fix or work around these things, they cause some issues, and remind you that you aren't a god. * just specific enough to give an understanding of what's going on, just generic enough to fill in your own mental images. don't beat someone with details unless they're important, place key information in the middle and don't draw attention to it until much later. * At the end of the game there is a secret ability to play a new game as a precursor. * later music for the same area is much darker and more adult than it was previously, but very similar. * "He was right about the culling. It needed to happen. the longer they waited they more difficult it eventually became to contain the plague from spreading." * "You'd think those as experienced as the precursors would understand this. It was not the culling that changed his mind, but the abandonment of the precursors. He had shaped his beliefs around their ideals." * You changed things forever, I hope you'll be doing that a lot in the months and years to come. * What will you do? Rebuild it. Just the way it was? I thought this might be a good opportunity for improving the foundations. * an single enemy that when "killed" will always come back as a visibly worse and battered version of their prior self. * They restored me, I have to hold faith in them. * This has happened before. Many years ago, another being did these things, and went to these places, and triggered these events, all we're really doing now is following in his footsteps, trying to find out where he stopped. * "It's okay, you can have it. I forged it for you." * "Today I had a vision, a vision of a new homeland, I sense that in this place a new home would be cultivated, this vision brings me hope, that there may be a future, there may be another like me in it, and this is not the end." * "This sacred place can never be yours" * a character distant, judging and whenever he speaks his words are haunting. * Are we supposed to pity this grotesque creature because his kind are no more? I hope Saul has him executed. Let his festering corpse feed the soil of the new world! ﻿" * the character with the simplest and most childish motivations is also the most observably and actually powerful and successful one. * things mentioned right at the start of the game are extremely important to the later story, done in a way that isn't obvious. * when you defeat an enemy, you gain access to the remainder of his resources, and his areas. * visible stationary objects built into the landscape that activate and move, destroying the land as they do so. * an npc fascinated by and hoards strange technology * allies change their own appearance over time based on items they recover on and off camera. * items are scattered everywhere, but in places that make sense, but are never in plain sight. * "Enjoy the rain while it lasts, we won't be seeing it again for a while" * for part of the game it is raining, which opens up new limited quests and opportunities. * never repeat content, make a mechanic then make a good quest out of it, don't milk mechanics. if the game is short, it's short. It is important that mechanics introduced see some usage within all quests, yet quests should be seen as independent. * a part of the game where the surface is plunged into total darkness, this makes some gameplay aspects more accessible * movement is very fluid and light cartoon, very animated and higher than average energy, light squash and stretch. forwards punch, heavy landing, roll and jump farther distances, crouch and jump, idle animations. * an enemy when defeated, gets up for a second and third phase, but these get weaker, the second and third phases aren't as tough as the first. * an area that becomes more and more open through quests, and during quests, such as a city or temple. * you will always be able to disarm any opponent, even bosses. * the game is designed in such a way where equipment pieces are optional, sometimes less is more. * a character that died before the game started, and his equipment is obtainable, and npc's talk about him and his life, and his death. * * "You will venture deep to find me and I will go to the shallows to find you." * physics based puzzles/objects within reason are fun and make the world feel alive. Static things don't tend to be fun. * using a fraction of an npc's total power to cause some events that would be impossible otherwise. * There is one large game timer, and within that timer several smaller timers for quest availability and ect. * I want collectibles that are incredibly hard to find but feel amazing to find and have large complex routes to find, they also open up some unique quests with permanent rewards. The last collectable isn't even really possible to obtain. * Not all discoveries are rewarding, some have long lasting negative effects, not all quests have good conclusions. * taking small parts off of much larger awe inspiring structures, such as a valuable piece, and leaving the much larger structure (powerful in it's own right) alone. * "I miss those days, I gave you this dull blade, watched you use it. You proved us all wrong in the end, things would've been different if I could have stopped you that day. Things might've been different if I never handed you your own destiny." * "we'' ''reached into the dirt and made new life." "That makes us gods, what does that make you?" * "Welcome home old friend, how was your life?" * seemingly silly logic or reasonings the player will easily blow off are actually based in logic and reason and are far more sinister than they appear to sound. * "How did you get here?" "I walked here." "You walked 'here'?" "I walked here." "Is this the same world?" "The same world? what other world is there?" "was it a long walk?" "Not for me" * "I've just always been here I've also always enjoyed it. There's been no real reason to leave." * the game is long enough that you reminisce about old enemies and want to see how they are getting on (if they're still alive) * "The past beats inside me like a second heart." * there are fully programmed features that are in the game with the full intention nobody will be able to use these as they are and will always be too expensive. * put the player at the same level as the npc's, the player should not be correctly assuming their next moves, but interested instead of what the next event could possibly be. * interaction with an npc looks like Risens interactions * Making a good game requires some linguistic polish. janky interfaces/text need to be simplified to keywords rather than paragraphs, confusion from real world terms and items (such as chemical processes) is okay however. * enemies are really strong, until you find out their weaknesses, not all enemies will have weaknesses though, and some enemies are simply stronger than you can defeat. * things that the player may notice earlier into the game and say "that's weird" actually become part of the plot later. ideas are left to stew hopefully until the player becomes curious when no other explanation is given, naturally, rather than being told they should be curious. * the music changes based on many things, the weather, indoors or outdoors, and the time. all areas will have a night midday and morning theme for both night and day. * abrupt cuts in the music to silence on event. * an enemy that steals your gear, and you need to fight him to reclaim it, his difficulty depends on your previous gear. * there are hidden things you can do only once, like gifting an item to an NPC for small or interesting reward. * There is an item hidden behind a door that is a cool utility, utility that is also fully coded, but the item can never be removed from that room, by any player, although it can be viewed. * when mining you will not know what a metal is, you must first identify any unidentified material, this is common for other things too. * Npc group thought to be crucial and loyal allies suddenly turn hostile and betray everyone. * red herring items, joke items, or items that are although useful, aren't for the particular task. * efficiency is a good reward, but that means inefficiency needs to actually exist, inefficiency is frustrating, but I think it needs to be there for the reward to pay off. * "Whatever happened here doesn't matter....it happened so long ago now....that there really isn't anything left to see....grandfathers, fathers, sons, grandsons.... they all died here until there was nobody left." * loading screens are three (or more) layered sprites moving independently at different speeds and directions, concept arty in appearance. * "we ran, but we didn't get far, we are the only things that didn't turn to ash." * "It is human error and ego to see a problem and devise a 'simple' solution. They cannot take complex data and form any solution that isn't entirely relative, and primitive." * the end of the game is in plain sight and obvious for most of the game, and is even accessed casually, however actually trying to take on the boss earlier would be foolhardy * particle effects from grass * Introducing frustrating mechanics may be required in order to achieve a fulfillment in nullifying the mechanic itself. Features like these give a rough diamond vibe. * make the environment important, combat shouldn't just involve two fighters, but the world too. pick up a rock, use a bush as cover etc. * areas fully hidden that can only really be accessed/discovered through riddles. * an enemy when killed, the AI part of him lives on free of the organic part, but still controlling parts of it. * simple warm/cold mechanic for use in some areas, and at certain times. * A boss where to defeat it you must disassemble yourself as an AI in order to get thrown away, you wake up and must reassemble yourself behind enemy lines * All AI can lose parts of themselves, arms, legs, heads, all affected by physics, they can survive with or without all components. * collecting still functioning/useful equipment from the deceased or storerooms. * all meshes are designed with the ability to have static slicing and breaking points in the mesh. guts, electronics, wood fragments, rock separations etc become separate intractable objects when separated from the main mesh, but only come into existence when an action is taken. It is much better to have a single mesh that can be updated and separated, rather than have many static meshes. This will also create objects that actually look like they could realistically be reattached. some seperate meshes should be created though for each tree to lessen similarity of strikes. In addition animation should depend on the object being attacked, so that these things line up. (axe lines up with axe hit, etc) * the "real end of the game" is kinda a fake ending where the enemies are allegedly weakened, but not defeated entirely, the game has a full new section of story and a real ending if the player played the game correctly, the main enemies are defeated for certain. * NPC's don't buy just any old junk, they will only buy specific items they require or show interest in. It is worthwhile for the player to remember which npc's are interested in buying which kinds of items, and this can change as the game progresses. * things that npc's can make right now, but you can't make until much, much, much later, this builds weight to the npc's current skill level, and your lack of it, and also the powerful nature of the items. * My game shouldn't be challenging in the way any hardcore game is challenging, but I want that level of challenge to exist. I want my game to be relaxed and chilled out content with some very complex content in select locations. If you want a challenge it is there, but there are other ways of playing the game and most importantly continuing your progression without risking so much. * content shouldn't kill progression and therefore motivation, it should make things harder , but not more frustrating. A defeat is a defeat, but it isn't the end, and it's certainly not entirely irreversible. * the game should focus more on efficiency, mechanics and responsiveness akin to a retro game rather than the polish and focus on graphical intensity of a modern title. * Random encounters with powerful npc's that can be slain and can do useful/damaging things too. * rain, on the rare occasion it does happen on Ver, is often warm to hot, and can be extremely destructive, forming seas overnight. * your map begins empty, with no locations discovered, you may find npc written maps which you can actually trace onto your own, but the bulk of map writing will ultimately fall to yourself. your map is fairly interactive, in that you must write it yourself whilst on Mar. The world is static, but locations aren't written on it automatically, that part is up to you. * locations wherein after owning factions have been destroyed repopulate with new non-hostile life. * I want to start focusing on "out of game" experiences, such as, I want a door that will remain locked for the entire game but can be unlocked if a savvy programmer knows where to look for it, other things like these would be cool, especially if they lead to hidden otherwise inaccessible content. * minor plots should evolve into major ones and don't ever start with a big actor unless you plan to start bigger and make it small progressively over time, not instantly as a conclusion either. * the birds of Mar are sentient, and much smarter than they appear, they however choose to live their own lives. * repurposing harmful poisons into useful drugs. * the player can decide to save the npc that saved them at the start of the game, or let that npc die. * "I don't decay anymore. I repair. But humans do decay; they wither and they die." * "You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you." * "Too many people. Brand new creatures, wise old men and age-old enemies." * "Facing death is part of being human; nobody should be allowed to change that." * The madman, sat in his empire of dust and ashes, little knowing of the glory he would achieve. * You might've removed all your emotions but I reckon, there's one little spark left, and that's fear. Doesn't it just burn when you face me? * you learn later on that all of the ore in a certain area is of much inferior quality to another area, but you were too inexperienced to actually tell the difference. * a creature that eats rare ore as a delicacy. * "My only wish is I could get away from this world, it's dying. There are some that believe the land can be cured, but I don't, this world is dying. " * A metal that is only found already in a smelted state, new metal of it's type cannot be found or mined, however, it is able to be melted down into any new weapons or armor. * you've been using a still very effective, but broken piece of armor for most of the game. * you will commonly come across injured, near death (usually would be) enemies, you can choose to spare them, and communicate with them. * The more you play, the more abilities you find through items, a truly classless experience but with some limited selection through player choice. * the full game should play like an origin story. * since dead npc's and creatures remain dead (and decay into skeletons) characters will remark about the skeletons and the dead npc/creatures. * throughout the game you will find and fight a variety of beasts, only after fighting them will you realize ways to negate their attacks, you need to make this equipment AFTER discovering the most painful ability, this drastically lowers the abilities this particular creature will have in future encounters. * I want the music to be so intense that you can feel your own heart beating in your chest. * when you escape the tower, not only are you reset to basics but you are even weaker than you were at the very beginning of the game. * there are several named pariah, these pariah aren't hostile to everyone, so they could be anywhere. you are given a list of their names, they all must be slain. some of these pariah can be very emotional, and all are incredibly strong. * a static haze like screen effect that uses the colours on screen. * an enemy manages to escape at the last second using unknown magic, you think he's still alive. It turns out he died soon after he escaped. You don't discover this until much later, you can then loot him. * a Droid only area where a Droid will sneak you in, in exchange for parts. * things like armor pieces from old AI's are common scrap to find through archaeology, AI will tell you some details about themselves and the past, and their eventual deactivation in exchange for a new lease on life. Although most of this is mundane, can be useful. * "One day we found fish in a small pond, he would dive into that pond and catch several fish, when we both got older, others found us and the town grew. One day he left the pond forever, telling us there were bigger things out there for him to catch. that pond was once where we now stand." * an npc that claims he can turn clay into gold using "magic" if you trust him he will later mock you for believing in magic, and refuse to give you back your clay, you can give him any amount of clay. * I hate when your character does or says anything that you wouldn't do, and therefore you become so detatched from your character as a result. * a guild is forced to disband when you're in it, this means losing the rank, and for a time the guild is dispersed and unjoinable, forcing you to go elsewhere. * your guild master gets injured, shows signs of recovery, but then dies abruptly, sending the group into chaos. * "These...people....they're barely human now, they're so inhuman they can't even bathe in the sunlight without dying. They are mere ghosts of people, more man than machine, if they left that tower, which most of them never will, they would all surely perish." * as an AI, there is a boss you can only defeat by deactivating yourself, and pretending to be dead, then rebuilding yourself later from scrap and trying to escape. * boss was only doing what he was doing for the greater good, and proves without him things would get worse, if he is killed, things will gradually get worse. * a secret advantage some people have access to, but won't reveal to others. * currency is generally rare, then you suddenly recieve more than enough of the currency you'd ever need within a controlled environment, but with the illusion of limitless expenditure, only to lose all of it shortly later. * No difficulty modes on startup. Instead; Insert challenging content in enclave areas where it makes sense, make these rewarding, but challenging. * any "boss" I have in the game should be fully aware of other "bosses" existences. * a boss will beg to be spared to help defeat another boss. * Clay is common * there should be content so impossible that only 1% of players will be able to do it. * an npc will warn you that another npc is going to lie to you and get you into a rough situation. * extensive fishing minigame. * Metal Detecting in places such as lakes plays a decent sized role in the game, sometimes you find stuff. * a boss that can be defeated at the start of the game, even within the first few moments which should be very hard, yet possible, and he gets harder as the game progresses. * * crudely drawn paper maps in game that show secrets. * lot's of reclaiming, and rebuilding in the universe, things aren't brand new, most things are rebuilt. * there are fine magnetic iron particles that weigh down most equipment made of metal which means players must make use of magnetized armor. * all computers are in the aliens native language, all passwords can be guessed, most passwords aren't random, some are on rotation. * You can choose to stay and fight, which is much harder, and near impossible. The game will not stop you if you decide to stay, it will allow you to stay, but the game will be almost impossible and you'll regret it, and also have no way of reaching. * gardening from seeds should also take a larger role. Kratky Method of Hydroponics * first cutscene should be bad guys making things much worse. * very fast growing fungi. * bowls and other metal objects are made by sandcasting, sandcasting is used in lieu of other objects, such as silicon molds, and is the most common way to manufacture metalwork, instead of traditional sandcasting, metal workers use Kinetic sand. * world has multiple different states and time periods for different player choices. * The player can sell anything, even quest items, the side story will often have unique uses for items in the main story, the player will find it hard to not be temped. * Can trade components or very powerful weapons that have powerful and unique qualities in exchange for other desirable qualities, weapons and armors are unique, there is not one weapon that exists that isn't unique. * most consequences aren't fatal, rather they open less simple or complex routes to completion. * Machines never come with any extra parts. They come with the exact amount they need. So if the world is one big machine, I can’t be a missing part. * The player starts by not being able to understand alien life at all, this can lead to awkward and uncomfortable speech if any at all, the player can choose to find and research the language, which opens up more dialogue options and plot potential, alien life is however very limited as a whole. * Programming based puzzles where making processes work involves writing realistic coding approaches, or reactions. * you can buy items from several different stores and break down or combine these items to make items that are considered illegal, basically using legal items to make illegal ones, prison style * Some decisions lead to worse paths, companions may be less well suited to roles and more prone to injury or even death, or cause missions to go unexpected directions. Companions can and will prematurely die if not careful. * Throughout the course of the game, the player can change parts of their own programming and hardware to better achieve tasks. Even though they may have become a droid they can retroactively choose to be a purist and be more human. Additionally, HUD information is actually a part of the game and not just settings in a menu, you can disable parts of the HUD to make room for upgrades, such as permanent maps. But remaining Human also has it's own benefits. * The less HUD information you have, the more you can upgrade yourself, you don't begin the game as an AI. Upgrades are very limited when you do become an AI and you will have mostly damaged or weakened chips taking up a lot of space which need to be replaced. * data mining AI defeated by flooding them with constant useless data. * keycard system of copper, cyan, tawny, titian and crimson. each tier only opens certain doors, need to get a chromatic card for full access, each tier can only open doors of that colour, not even the ranks that precede it. * prisoners number increases throughout story on REAL TIME SPENT, more time taken in the game causes the last boss to get harder, however large main story plots reduce this time. * not all choices can be made, choices require sacrifices, choices are sometimes not choices at all, but things you must do due to your own lenience earlier into the game. * A large pillar of salt in the desert, it contains a rare item, salt must be dissolved in order to obtain the item, the salt cannot be mined as it is too hard, water isn't available nearby. * There are very few monsters, which are unique, and a challenging fight. * Treasures are never in plain sight, however areas do give off some hints there may be areas worth exploration nearby. * items in the "inventory" are clearly visible on the player. backpacks are visible, and can be slashed open, and items inside broken, carried items can be accidentally dropped. It is very situational. * Offered greatest desires by main antagonist, this however results in a bad ending, offers good things when bad ending is denied. * The "hero" was killed, the bad guy rules. For the average citizen, though, things have taken a turn for the better. * a utopia that seems like a dystopia on the surface.